FMP Initial Plans

1. Initial Plans
Daniel Thompson

2. Initial Reaction
• In this rotation, we have been given the choice of any type of media product to make. I am currently drifting towards making a magazine on either
music or gaming. I feel that I will be more confident working on these medias because I have created magazines to a high quality in past rotations and
in the last level of my course (lvl2). Gaming magazines would be the most familiar genre of magazine for me to create as I have done plenty of
research in the past on it and I have a lot of general knowledge on games coming out and also retro/old games. Music would be a rather new
department for me to create a magazine about but it would be a welcomed challenge. Another reason for choosing a magazine would be because I
feel I have many skills in using Adobe Photoshop. I have been using the software plenty of times throughout the past couple of years including with
my own products and projects at home in my spare time. I have also got experience in using Adobe InDesign in print. Though it may not quite be as
much as my Photoshop experience, I feel that it will certainly help me in this rotation. I have been given 8 weeks to create this product and I feel that
If I get my schedule created early, I will find it a lot more easier to stick to it because in past rotations I have strayed from it due to rushing my plan of
action. I hope to improve my time management in this rotation and to be ahead of schedule for the most part. I feel personally that my best work
that I have created so far has been in the print industry such as my gaming magazines in level 2 and my Irn Bru products earlier this year. My
strongest areas of work in my opinion are my production and reflection. This is because I find the creation side of media extremely engaging and fun
and due to this I can apply myself a lot more. Reflecting on my work is a big strength for me as backed by my progress tutor. I feel that it is easier to
do in more detail as there are less things to get done by a due date and most of my other work is often completed by that point, giving me more
room to think instead of stress out over getting everything done. My biggest weaknesses are the planning and research phases. I find them both very
tedious and often boring. Planning is obviously a very important aspect of the project but I end up going off on a tangent during production with new
ideas that I believe would fit better in my products. The research phase is very important for my product but I also find it rather challenging, often
because of the kind of product I make whether it be an old game with not many related products or maybe my product doesn’t even have a product
to compare it to. If I decide on making a gaming magazine, I may be able to simply use screenshotting for collecting images and characters to use in
my cover and dps. A camera may also be used at some points to shoot pictures of console games or older games which do not allow screenshots. This
will also be the case if I decide to create a music magazine. A camera will most definitely need to be used to get pictures of bands and musician and I
could also shoot backgrounds and props to use in the cover and dps. To help me with my time management, I could do many things. For example, I
would be able to implement a gantt chart to help me dedicate a certain amount of hours to each aspect of my work, this would ensure that every bit
gets an equal amount of attention and I don’t slack off as much with them. I could also potentially create a diary to note down good ideas and
objectives. Reflecting on my work will be the most important part to this project as I will be able to evaluate what aspects of my work were well
made and what things need improvement in the future.

3. Mind Map

4. Mind Map

5. Mood Board

6. Mood Board Analysis
Is there any repetition in the images you have collected? Repeated
colours/images styles/fonts/tone/mood
• Throughout the majority of my mood board, purple is a prominent colour
due to the amount of Spyro themed images. This will serve as the main
colour scheme of my magazine. All of the magazine images featured on my
mood board are more full of content rather than sparse and image based
and therefore look more open and wild than the traditional magazine.
There is also a lot of layering being used in the magazine covers and
spreads which is a feature I would very much like to use in my product as it
gives the product more depth and life.
How will your mood board influence your final product?
• This mood board will influence my work by giving me a good example of
what aspects of a product fare well with others and which ideas I
potentially had would be successful. From the board, I can also gather a
sense of what colour schemes work together well and what combinations
to avoid, although websites will also help with this.